#408 XCIX

64x84 cm | Filler, oak panel

The title is 99 in Roman numbers. I drew 99 short lines in the wet filler with a long stick. Repeating one simple movement many times creates a complex and various whole.

99 to me means 99% which refers to the famous slogan of the Occupy movement - "We are the 99%". I like to interpret it as a unity of interest more than wealth. The large majority are united through their relation to labour, or employment as opposed to the minority owners of capital - the employers. We should use this common ground instead of being divided by our different occupations and tasks within the capitalist system. It is important to notice that 99% means most, but not all. We are united not by any universality but through the struggle for a common goal or against a common opponent.

99% can also represent the fact that universality is an abstract concept. There is never a complete answer, there is always a rest that will remain unknown. In real life, any happiness always contains a stain of sorrow, any victory a shadow of defeat.